Soyuz T-13 was a Soyuz mission, a human
spaceflight mission transporting personnel to the Russian space
station Salyut 7. The
eighth expedition to the orbital station,
the mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at
06:39:52 UTC on
1985-06-06. It is of note because it marked the first time a
spacecraft had docked with a 'dead' space station, and the first
time such a station had been returned to operational status
following repairs.

Backup
crew

Mission
highlights

Vladimir Dzhanibekov could have had no notion that he would so
soon visit Salyut 7 after his Soyuz T-12 flight. Soyuz T-13 was the first
Soyuz to dock manually with an inert Salyut. For the purpose it was
slightly modified to include control levers in the descent module
for proximity operations. Viktor Savinykh and Vladimir Dzhanibekov
salvaged the Salyut 7 station, which had been crippled by a solar
array problem. Savinykh remained aloft for 169 days, returning to
Earth in Soyuz T-14; Dzhanibekov returned to Earth in Soyuz T-13
with Grechko after spending 110 days on Salyut 7. Before
deorbiting, Soyuz T-13 spent about 30 h conducting rendezvous and
docking tests.

The effort turned out to be one of the most impressive feats of
in-space repairs in history. As the Pamirs approached the inert
station, they saw that its solar arrays were pointing randomly as
it rolled slowly about its long axis. They used a handheld laser
rangefinder to judge their distance, and conducted a fly-around
inspection to be certain the exterior was intact. Dzhanibekov noted
that the thermal
blankets on the transfer compartment had turned a dull gray
from prolonged exposure to sunlight. Upon achieving hard dock—the
first time a Soyuz docked with an inactive station—the crew
confirmed through the electrical connectors in the docking collars
that the Salyut 7 electrical system was dead. They carefully
sampled the air in the station before opening the hatch. The
station air was very cold, but breathable. Frost covered the walls
and apparatus. The cosmonauts wore winter garb, including fur-lined
hats, as they entered the station. The first order of business was
to restore electric power. Of the eight batteries, all were dead,
and two were destroyed. Dzhanibekov determined that a sensor had
failed in the solar array pointing system, preventing the batteries
from recharging. A telemetry radio problem prevented the TsUP
from detecting the problem. Salyut 7 had quickly run down its
batteries, shutting down all its systems and accounting for the
break in radio contact. The cosmonauts set about recharging the
batteries. They used Soyuz T-13 to turn the station to put its
solar arrays in sunlight. On June 10 they turned on the air
heaters. The cosmonauts relied on the Soyuz T-13 air regeneration
system until they could get the Salyut 7 system back in order. On
June 13 the attitude control system was
successfully reactivated. This was cause for jubilation, as it
meant a Progress bearing replacement parts could dock with Salyut
7. Wall heaters were turned on only after all the frost had
evaporated, in order to prevent water from entering equipment.
Normal atmospheric humidity was achieved only at the end of July.
The station’s water tanks thawed by the end of June. Freezing
destroyed the water heater, so the cosmonauts used a powerful
television light to heat fluids.